Summer weekends are the perfect opportunity to make a mini escape from the workweek. It doesn’t matter where you are located; chances are you have a fresh destination within a few hours drive. We have a few pointers to make your next blacktop adventure a little more memorable… maybe even challenging.

Pick a spot you’ve never been, or take a road you’ve never travelled. Road trips are all about discovery – taking the same path to the same end point… kind of missing the point.

Keep the tech to a minimum. Ditch the GPS, and keep the phone in your pocket. Use a paper map - available at any gas station next to some amazing sunglasses and a selection of camo trucker hats. Actual trucker hats. Your dad and grandpa will be proud.

Music. Is. Key. Keeping with the minimal tech concept, make mix CDs or dare we say… tapes? Last weekend’s trip for us included tracks from Disclosure, Bastille, and Geographer. Protip: Always have Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” ready to go if you need to infuse some energy into the drive. It never fails.

Take detours. The point is to discover something fun. World’s Largest Ball of Twine an hour off the highway? Scenic overlook on the next exit? Take a quick side adventure. Sometimes the little things turn into the biggest memories.

Taking off solo? Cool. Bringing some friends? Double cool. Pick your team wisely though. If you have a friend who needs an itinerary for Saturday morning breakfast, they might night be on the spontaneity A-Team. We're planning a few more weekenders before summer comes to a close - where are you heading?

One of our favorite things about the internet - aside from banana slicer shopping - is looking at lists. "The Top 56 Photos of Cats in Sinks", "23 of the Best Ways to Wear Jorts in Winter", "34 Clouds that Look Like Sharks Juggling Chainsaws"... all fantastic. Here are three very real, very awesome lists we're digging:

OK - full disclosure, this post is built on lies. We were totally listening to more than three songs this past weekend, but "186 Songs in a Playlist" was just going to end up being too long of an update. You don't wanna read it, and we don't wanna write it. Besides, three is a fun number, a magic number, and it's a challenge to pick just three songs that encapsulate the vibe of a day. By the way, this weekend, we had no luck in making it to the beach, but we did make it to a pool. So here are three jams that helped create a daytime disco while we were kicking back in some Cushe Time next to the diving board.

During his exploration of the UK coastline for undiscovered and unsurfed territory, Mitch Corbett finds some mighty fine views. This is what Cushe Time is all about. A time to reflect, savor a moment, and put a smile on your face thinking about the next one.

So, the weather in the Midwest can only be described as Hoth-like at the moment. Walking out into the wind is what we imagine getting hit in the face with a bag of frozen pennies feels like. We're a glass half full bunch over here though, so here are three things we actually like about the cold.

1. Scarves. We've said it before, and we'll say it again; next to boots, scarves are our favorite winter accessory. Like The Dude's rug, they can really tie a look together.

2. Hot chocolate. Pretty much any kind will do, but there is a ridiculous amount of luxury class hot chocolates out there worth sipping. Sea Salt is on our list to try.

3. Wool socks. The ninja of foot warmth. Silent, unseen, effective... and potentially deadly if you do not wash them.

Ever wonder where we get that delightful scent of leather, canvas, and natural rubber blends? It's not the hottest new fragrance you can buy, but a musk one can only acquire from spending time in our shoe lab. Ok, ok, lab is a little bit of a reach since we don't actually construct our ultra comfortable designs in this room, but it sounds better than Shoe Hole. We do cook up product names, play around with potential styling, and drink oddly concocted smoothies in here though, so it's a lab of sorts.

We'll close our word holes now, so you can take a look at the pictures. Plenty of upcoming styles featured here, which shall remain nameless until it's time to talk about them. Go ahead and get your shoe lust on though, because everything you see here is coming out in 2013.

So you saved some cash with our free shipping. Not only are you smart (and good looking), but you are either incredibly generous because you are giving the gift of Cushe, or you are about to add a(nother) pair of Cushes to your personal footwear arsenal. This is just one of the many reasons we like you.

However, there is a problem... What to do with that extra cash from the shipping you didn’t just pay for. Here are three things we might do if we had a little foldin’ money in our pockets.

Buy socks. Now, we know this is traditionally a holiday gift you have to grin and bare, but hear us out. Many of our shoes look extra awesome when worn sock free. That isn’t always an option for all of us – so when the sitch calls for socks, we like to still look like we’re without. The tropical Republic of Banana has some great no-show socks that aren’t see-through thin.

See a show. Unless you were shipping somewhere exotic, we’re not talking about an arena band. Go to your local venue and see a rising act. Aside from being a great way to discover some new music, it’ll give you that indie cred of being able to say “I saw them when…”. This past year we’ve been lucky enough to see some great performances from Little Hurricane, GRiZ, Say Anything, and Japandroids; all in small venues for less than 15 smackers.

Pick up a macro lens for your phone. The best camera is the one you always have with you, and for most of us, that means our mobile phone. Photojojo has some unique photographer gifts and gadgets in general, but this Macro Cell Lens Band is amazing looking. Plus you can just wear it when it’s not in use. Bonus.

If you haven’t taken advantage of our free shipping yet, you still have a few days! Get at it!

We like fall and winter for a few reasons: the colorful change in seasons, friends and family around the holidays, hitting the hills after a fresh snowfall... all good stuff. Most importantly though, it's scarf and boot season. We don't make scarves, but we do make a lot of awesome boots!

David Lee Roth once told Henry Rollins (and we're paraphrasing here) that every ticket he sold to a show was a contract his band had with that person for a good experience. Why are we telling you this? Well, because it's awesome and strange that Rollins and Roth have a friendship. More importantly though, we feel that same way about our boots. Shoes too, but we're talking about boots today. We want to keep your feet warm and dry. We want you to not settle for salt stains. We want to keep you looking good, and feeling Cushe. Check out our full range of women’s boots here.